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Cover-Story Visioning Handout
Cover-Story Visioning Handout
Cover Story:
A Fun Shared Vision Exercise
Overview:
Category:
Level:
Type:
Provide a forum for small groups (perhaps within a larger setting) to creatively generate a
cover story about what could happen in the future
Encourage participants to explore their creativity, visions, and thoughts
Build teamwork and shared vision for future work
Materials:
Very large cover story guidelinecontaining cover, sidebars, photoboxes, quotes, and
brainstorming areas arranged in an artistic, welcoming manner. You can make this by
taping together 6 standard flip chart pages.
The Cover Story is a big poster made of 6 flip chart pages or on butcher block paper with
the following headings/parts:
How to Prepare:
Read the activity. Prepare the cover story large posters. Figure out how you want to frame
the exercise: what magazine (or newspaper, or web site if you want to get innovative), what
idea, how long into the future, etc.
You need enough space to have a semi-circle of chairs clustered around the large poster on
the wall. The wall space needs to allow for the total poster and allow people to write and draw
on it freely. Dont make the poster smaller: part of what makes this exercise work so well is the
largeness of the blank paper.
For large groups that will then break into smaller teams (like a corps or program), its best to
have a gym or similar space for this exercise. This allows for all of the groups to work
simultaneously in the same space but with some separation and tends to enhance the creative
competition and focus on the project. It also allows the Gallery Walk, a powerful part of the
activity, to happen easier.
How to Do/Brief Outline:
This is a basic outline based on a two-hour workshop:
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Introduction
Suggested time 10 minutes
Facilitators should introduce themselves, roles, why they are there, and general purpose of the
activity. You may want to do a very brief warm up that is creative in nature. If participants do
not know each other, you may want to do introductions or a name game, depending on the size
of the group.
Then, introduce the activity. You can do this is a straightforward manner by reviewing the
goals, then presenting the small group(s) with a scenario such as:
Imagine that its the year 2015. As you are traveling to your service site, you see a
news stand with the latest copies of your favorite magazines. Then, on the cover of
one, you notice a big headline about your organization. Now, your job as a group is
to create that cover story and its other elements (sidebars, images, quotes, etc.)
here.
Or, you can define the magazine and topic. Or, you can simply show the poster and instruct
that this exercise is the opportunity for the team to imagine how they would like to be covered,
in x number of years. Or each team could decide for themselves the year they would want the
magazine to be printed in. Be creative, but get familiar with the entire exercise first.
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Silent Brainstorming
Suggested time 10 minutes
When the groups start to work, the facilitator should first go over the cover story poster.
Review the task. Give everyone a small stack of post-its. Have people silently write down their
ideas for any part of the cover story poster, one idea per post-it. For example, someone might
scribble a quote. Someone else might have an idea for the cover headline. Let people do this
for 5-10 minutes.
Then, the facilitator should read over all of the post-its to the group. The purpose of this is to
see what kinds of ideas have been generated and to spark new ones. Dont allow discussion
yet.
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Determine Focus
Suggested time 15 minutes
Then, the facilitator should focus the group to decide on the cover story. The group may have a
strong preference for an item up already, be interested in a new one, or suggest a merged idea.
The facilitator needs to decide the process (vote, general agreement, or whatever), but you
shouldnt be making the decision yourself. Be careful of dominating, as the facilitators role is
not to do so.
Keep the group moving towards a decision.
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1) Who are the stakeholders in the projects and efforts that we have accomplished? How
do we work with these stakeholders? What value has come of our work for them?
2) What is our image in the communities where we work? What do people say about us?
3) How do we handle good times? How do we handle stress or hard times?
4) What has happened for the community as a result of our work?
Other questions can push the group to consider more far-reaching, impact-oriented, or
visionary work.
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For larger sessions (like with a corps or program), the lead facilitator should reconvene all
participants in a large space. A gym is excellent for this exercise. Hang every groups poster.
Next, everyone should do a Gallery Walk. You can allow a member of each team to briefly
present their cover story to everyone else before the Gallery Walk. This sharing is a powerful
part of the exercise (for larger groups) because it allows people to learn from each others
creativity and ideas.
End the workshop with an appropriate closing reflection, evaluation, and next steps. Reflection
can include statements by members of the larger group about their insights, feelings, and
experiences.